


Whole Wide World

by Pinkpoppy



Category: Different for Girls (1996)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-12 23:13:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11172102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pinkpoppy/pseuds/Pinkpoppy
Summary: The Act referred to is the Gender Recognition Act 2004 which came into force in the United Kingdom 4 April 2005.  At this point it became possible for a transgender person to change his or her birth certificate and then marry someone of the opposite gender.  The laws around civil partnerships were covered in a different act which came into power in December 2005.





	Whole Wide World

Kim sat neatly on the sofa. Paul noticed this particularly because he never sat properly. He lounged, or sprawled or slouched, but never sat neatly. He was particularly edgy this evening, up and down and bouncing around like Tigger on amphetamines.

“Prentice, sit down”, said Kim was more than usual exasperation. She was trying to follow the convoluted plot of a detective story and Prentice’s hyperactivity was not helping especially as he kept jumping in front the TV.

Paul sat down, leapt up, ran his fingers through his hair, and flung himself into his seat again, and then got up again and slouched on the sofa next to Kim.

“Er, Kim, do you have a passport still?” 

He felt her stiffen and tried to smile winningly. They tended not to go on holiday abroad because although Kim’s passport showed her sex as female, people tended to check twice, and occasionally comments were made. She would try to ignore this, but Paul was always on a hair trigger where insults to Kim were concerned so if anyone upset her he still lost control verbally and sometimes had to be restrained from losing control physically.

“Yes” Kim turned to face him. He ran his fingers through his hair again. His expression was either nervous or plain shifty depending upon one’s viewpoint. Jean, she knew, would definitely describe it as shifty.

“Did you want to you want to go somewhere specific?”

“Tahiti or the Bahamas where the Caribbean Sea is blue.” 

Kim sighed. She knew it was bad news when Prentice started talking through the medium of seventies songs. He was usually trying to avoid admitting something or talk his way out of some misdemeanour.

“For any particular reason?”

Paul swallowed. 

Definitely nervous rather than shifty she thought. Almost scared.

“Well, a honeymoon ought to be somewhere exotic”

Kim stared as he moved off the sofa to kneel in front of her.

“I know I don’t get it right a lot of the time but I know that it’s right this time”, he said.

She stared, unable to process what he was saying. How could he be going to go on a honeymoon? Was he leaving her and marrying someone else? But why would she need a passport? Was the wedding abroad – did he expect her to come to it? And how long had this being going on? Was Jean right after all? She had been convinced that letting Prentice back into her life would cause Kim heartache in the future.

“You want me at your wedding?” She thought she was going to cry.

He looked puzzled.

“It would be a bit difficult to get married if you weren’t there. You know this new law that’s just come in.”

She tensed even further. Despite their nine years together she was still defensive about her previous life as Karl and couldn’t understand what the new act had to do with Paul leaving her to marry someone else

“Yes” she said more hesitantly. She thought she was going to cry again.

“Well, you can get a proper birth certificate now. You fit all the criteria for it. I know it will be”, he broke off and ran his fingers through his hair again, jumped up, and then knelt in front of her again, grabbing both her hands.

“I know it will be difficult for you” he continued. “but you definitely qualify. I checked it all out, read the provisions of the Act”

Typical Prentice, she thought, despite everything. When he was at his most confused about his feelings for her he read academic books about transsexuality. People often mistook his immaturity for stupidity. She also noticed that he said proper birth certificate. Not new but proper, admitting that the original one was wrong.

She still wanted to cry but now she was more confused than ever.

He let go of her hands and dug into his pocket. He grabbed her left hand and pushed something onto her ring finger.

“Sapphires for your eyes – is it OK? I’ve never done this before”

Kim looked at his face, her hand and then his face again.

“Say something”, he begged, “Even if it’s no”

“Do you mean me? Not someone else?” 

“Kim” Paul started looking cross “I want to marry you. Are you saying no?”

“No. It’s not no, I mean. It’s yes. But are you sure it’s what you want?”

“Yes, I’ve been planning this since the act was first mentioned.”

“But it’s not going to be oppressive for you? Do you want a big wedding?” Kim paused, not really sure how to go on. A typical Prentice family wedding anathema to her quiet nature, but equally if he didn’t want that then did it mean he didn’t want the public fuss because he was ashamed? She couldn’t exactly imagine a wedding with Prentice and her as the bride and groom. 

“Well, that’s your choice isn’t it? I mean the woman decides all that and the man just turns up.”

“But why do you want to get married?” Kim looked at him.

“I don’t know exactly, but I’ve taken a lot of time to get myself together and to grow up properly.” He paused, and then took a breath. “You’ve been part of that. I think that I’ve always loved you, even back when we were in school. Obviously I didn’t fancy you then”

Kim pushed him away, glancing at her left hand. Paul caught hold of her hands again.

“But it’s even more than that. You said all those years ago that you couldn’t explain our relationship. You said that you didn’t know how you managed without me, but I didn’t manage without you. I was a mess when we met again, stuck in the past, probably because that was where you were I know you’re not the easiest person to live with.”

“Piss off, Prentice.” Kim half laughed and half cried.

“But I’d find living without you impossible. And not because you sound like my mum sometimes and tidy up after me.”

Kim swallowed, then said, “I didn’t think that I’d ever get married. Even knowing that the law was going to be changed I couldn’t imagine you wanting to and I don’t think that could ever be anyone else for me.”

She paused. “I think I’ve always had a fear that I’ve been your grown up act of rebellion. You don’t like rules and I’m an example of a broken rule. I rebelled against the gender I’d been given.”

“Kim…”

“No wait, I haven’t finished. Then I remember you brought me flowers after that disastrous first meal out, and from that point on I was always Kim to you, even when you didn’t know how you felt about me.”

“Kim…” He moved back to sitting next to her and pulled her towards him, kissing the top of her head. “I’m sorry I hurt you then, and for the arrest and stuff. And even after I’d realised that I wanted you as you and not my old mate back I wasn’t sure that it would last, that when I broke something or left things untidy that you would decide I was too much hassle but you never did. I thought you were kicking me out when first you talked about moving. I don’t know – I’m not doing this to just to pretend to be grown up, but because we can now. I don’t know that if the law had been different earlier that I’d have suggested it much earlier, but when I heard the act being proposed I thought that I needed to too. And it means that you have to get me breakfast every morning.”

Kim laughed. She had finally stopped crying. 

“Prentice, you idiot. I love you, but the teabags still live in the cupboard.” She turned to kiss him, and then pulled away, her expression stricken.

“Kim, what’s wrong?”

“Who’s going to tell Jean?” she asked.

**Author's Note:**

> The Act referred to is the Gender Recognition Act 2004 which came into force in the United Kingdom 4 April 2005. At this point it became possible for a transgender person to change his or her birth certificate and then marry someone of the opposite gender. The laws around civil partnerships were covered in a different act which came into power in December 2005.


End file.
